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Mount Virtus?

Every day is seeking to rise to the challenge, 'neath the shadow of the mighty Rockies.

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Sometimes the choices are daunting or confusing, sometimes they're as clear as a Mile High view.

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If I had five more writers just like him, I think my job would be the easiest in journalism....

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Liberal Activist Judge Threatens to Criminalize Homeschool Parents

Update: Richie D at exvigilare has more Out in California, an activist judge has all but put the kibosh on educational freedom - apparently generating law from whole cloth that says parents who school at home have to be credentialed by the state. At least a higher court will have something to say about it:A "breathtaking" ruling from a California appeals court that could subject the parents of 166,000 students in the state to criminal sanctions will be taken to the state Supreme Court. The announcement comes today from the Pacific Justice Institute, whose president, Brad Dacus, described the impact of the decision as "stunning." "The scope of this decision by the appellate court is breathtaking," he said. "It not only attacks … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, General Tagged With: California, homeschooling, Liberal activist judiciary, Pacific Justice Institute

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Steyn on Left’s Creeping Concessions to Islamic Sharia

Over at the Corner, Mark Steyn highlights the Left's illogical "Sharia creep" in its latest manifestations in the United States:Forty years ago, advocating separate drinking fountains made you a racist. Today, advocating separate taxi cabs or separate swimming sessions makes you a multiculturalist. No one has a keener eye for this stuff than Mark Steyn. If you're not reading him regularly, you should be. After all, he has been fighting the good fight for free speech against Canada's Human Rights Commission. (More on this story from Michelle Malkin.) A little solidarity today from south of the 48th parallel. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, Cultural Conservatism, General, World Events Tagged With: Canada's Human Rights Commission, Free Speech, Islamic Sharia, Mark Steyn, The Corner

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

The Reports of Common Sense’s Death May Not be Exaggerated After All

Eminent UCLA law professor and blogger extraordinaire Eugene Volokh exposes a case of political correctness run amok, to the point of absurdity. "Harassment by reading"? Oh, it's worse than that. University administrators in Indiana came down hard on an employee reading during breaktime a scholarly book that included "Ku Klux Klan" in the title. (You can learn more about the incident, and the book's clearly anti-Klan theme here.) Here's the key excerpt from a university Affirmative Action Office letter, reprinted on Volokh's site:Upon review of this matter, we conclude that your conduct constitutes racial harassment in that you demonstrated disdain and insensitivity to your co-workers who repeatedly requested that you refrain from … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cultural Conservatism, Education, General, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: death of common sense, Eugene Volokh, Free Speech, I am not a victim, Ku Klux Klan book

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Dems Push Forward “Wet Noodle” Anti-Strike Legislation

A bill that would ban strikes for Colorado state workers passed a Senate committee yesterday, reports the Denver Post - all unleashed by the stroke of Gov. Bill Ritter's pen. Today's article omits the significant detail, so it's incumbent upon this blogger to remind you that the Democrat proposal is weak and ineffectual. Colorado Senate News features the best commentary on the bill:"Obviously, this bill wouldn't have been introduced at all if Republicans hadn't urged the governor to do the right thing and assure taxpayers their vital public services wouldn't be jeopardized by the threat of a strike," the GOP's Sen. Bill Cadman, of Colorado Springs, said after the committee vote. "Unfortunately, what we got from the governor and his … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: "wet noodle" enforcement, Colorado Senate News, Denver Post, Gov. Bill Ritter, No-strike legislation, Rep. Bill Cadman

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Bill Buckley (1925-2008)

Via K.J. Lopez at the Corner, news comes today that the great William F. Buckley, Jr., has passed away. While very few writers and speakers have ever had a greater facility with the English language than Buckley did, there was much more to him than the elegance of his prose. He was an intellectual champion for conservatism long before there was any popularity to be gained by it. From his seminal book God and Man at Yale to his great legacy in the founding of National Review, he did as much as any American in the 20th century to advance the conservative cause through logical, forceful, and passionate argument, as well as through refined wit and good humor. To get a glimpse of the man - his ideas and his rhetoric - you can search a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Commemorative, Cultural Conservatism, General Tagged With: Conservatism, God and Man at Yale, Hillsdale College, National Review, obituary, William F. Buckley

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Nature Dousing the Global Warming Crowd with Ice-Cold Water?

From Lorne Gunter at the National Post yesterday:Snow cover over North America and much of Siberia, Mongolia and China is greater than at any time since 1966. The U.S. National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) reported that many American cities and towns suffered record cold temperatures in January and early February. According to the NCDC, the average temperature in January "was -0.3 F cooler than the 1901-2000 (20th century) average." China is surviving its most brutal winter in a century. Temperatures in the normally balmy south were so low for so long that some middle-sized cities went days and even weeks without electricity because once power lines had toppled it was too cold or too icy to repair them. There have been so many snow … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Hysteria, Colorado Politics, General Tagged With: Arctic ice, Global warming hysteria, National Post, sunspot activity, U.S. National Climatic Data Center

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

The Democrat Primary Goes On…

Hillary Clinton bests Barack Obama on Super Tuesday Part II. Though still trailing in the delegate count, she has the momentum and the talking points. Meanwhile, Obama is weighted down all of a sudden with scandal and controversy. Both still have plenty of money to continue their brutal internecine political fistfight at least until Pennsylvania in April 22 - and probably beyond. Can't say it makes this blogger feel bad. Two points: 1. Many are going to overestimate the effect conservative cross-over voters had on Hillary's win in Texas. She won anyway, though with maybe a one-half to one percent increase in the final margin. 2. Attempts by Rep. Ed Perlmutter and other Colorado Democrat leaders to assure Democrat voters about the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, National Politics Tagged With: Barack Obama, Democrat primary, Hillary Clinton, Rep. Ed Perlmutter, superdelegates, Texas

2/7/2026 By Ben 2 Comments

Hillman Presents Reasonable Case for Conservatives to Back McCain

Former state senate Republican leader Mark Hillman, an indisputable and articulate conservative, as well as a respected friend, has written a piece for Backbone America titled "If Principles Matter, So Does McCain." Follow the link to follow his reasoning, but most notable is his conclusion:Conservatives generally recognize short-sighted self-indulgence when practiced by others. Now many conservatives are in danger of practicing a suicidal self-indulgence of their own. We must put aside self-pity and frustration and do what we always have done: choose the right and responsible course for our country. If instead we purposefully withhold our votes to gratify our personal pride and prejudice, the surrendered freedoms, suffocating tax … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics Tagged With: Backbone America, John McCain, Mark Hillman

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Dem Leaders Weakly Downplay Voters’ Superdelegate Anxieties

An interesting piece in today's Denver Post: "Democrats vouch for superdelegate system." On a day where Hillary looks to make a comeback in the presidential primary with some critical wins, further muddling the contest between her and Obama, the possibility looms that the un-democratic superdelegate system will decide the party's leadership. So it's interesting to see Democrat leaders in Colorado try to downplay a potential crisis to their confused constituents:U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter of Golden, a superdelegate who supports Barack Obama, acknowledged that the large number of automatic delegates worried the Obama campaign because Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President Bill Clinton have had long-term relationships with so many party … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics Tagged With: Barack Obama, Democratic Party, Denver Post, Hillary Clinton, Rep. Ed Perlmutter, superdelegates

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Silly Overpopulation Scare: The Province of Nihilist Academia

A letter in today's Raleigh-Durham News & Observer:In the Feb. 15 N&O, an article's headline said, "Study's look at oceans is sobering." It described research showing negative human influences on nearly every corner of Earth's oceans and seas. This is just one of many worrisome phenomena that we read and hear about daily: severe water shortage, global warming, overcrowded schools, power plant pollution, deforestation, endangered species, gang crime and so on. But they all have something in common that never seems to get mentioned: There are too many humans on this planet! Further, I understand that we are increasing by 70 million a year! We can reduce our littering, change our consumption habits, find better ways to generate … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, Climate Hysteria, General, World Events Tagged With: academy, ecosocialist neo-paganism, nihilism, overpopulation, Raleigh-Durham News & Observer

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About Me

Ben DeGrow
Grateful and growing Christian, devoted husband and father of 3, public policy analyst, returned to Michigan by way of Colorado, conservative writer, lifelong learner, Detroit Tigers fan.

Recent Posts

  • AI-Enhanced Cyberbullying: The Dark Side of Teen Innovation
  • My Baker’s Dozen of Top 2023 Reads
  • Common Learning Disabilities in Children
  • Tips to Teach Kids to Set and Achieve Goals
  • The Christmas Music Countdown You’ve Been Looking For: 2022 Edition

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Completing the Blogroll

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Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

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To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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